Iran to repair Syria’s power grid: Report

Tehran, Sep 13 (IANS) Iran has signed preliminary agreements with Syria to repair the power grid in Aleppo city and the provinces of Latakia and Dayr al-Zawr in the Arab state, media reports said on Wednesday.

The contracts, worth several hundred million euros, were signed during Syrian Electricity Minister Mohammad Zuhair Kharboutli’s visit to Tehran on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The agreements include building a power plant in the coastal province of Latakia with a capacity of 540 MW and restoring the main control centre for Syria’s electricity grid in the capital Damascus, Press TV said.

Iranian companies will also rehabilitate a 90-MW power station in Dayr al-Zawr province, and another in the Homs province.

The contracts further involve the establishment of five gas turbines, each with a capacity of 125 MW in in Baniyas.

Iran has already assured Syria to expand its cooperation to construct water and sewerage facilities in the Arab country.

“We are glad that good news is coming out about the situation in Syria these days, and the terrorists are facing defeat and complete elimination,” Iran’s Energy Minister Sattar Mahmoudi said during the signing ceremony.

“The message of Iran’s Ministry of Energy is to restore light to the houses of the Syrian people, while the terrorists and their supporters have had no message other than darkness and terror for the Syrian people in the past few years,” he said.

According to Iran’s Energy Ministry, Iranian firms are already involved in a series of electricity generation projects worth $660 million in Syria.

In May 2013, Iran agreed to provide Syria with a $3.6-billion credit line for imports of goods and commodities and implementing civilian projects.